Indeed >< :P that was very interesting tho !! Too bad because we don't really have "time to lose" by being fascinated etc, as we have to learn really really fast
Whatever , I learned a lot and I'm happy I had the opportunity to learn so much

(Original post by FrenchUnicorn)
Indeed >< :P that was very interesting tho !! Too bad because we don't really have "time to lose" by being fascinated etc, as we have to learn really really fast
Whatever , I learned a lot and I'm happy I had the opportunity to learn so much

Here I am, the first unicorn of whole TSR ! I want to write a blog to share my experience -and to help me get through it why not- as a student who failed medicine. I noticed before that no one really knows how med studies goes on right here in France, and it is DEFINITELY different from the med system in UK.
That's why I decided to tell you how it is, the whole thing, the official things, and the secrets things, and ALL OF IT.

I can tell that was the most awful and wonderful experience of my whole life -yes both awful and wonderful- you learn a lot, and you change. You can't be the same person anymore after getting through such a thing. Well, let's start my friends !

To start this blog, you need to know all about med studies in here. My first post will be all about it this part will be a bit complicated and technical, if you don't get it all at first it's okay don't worry !

Applying.
When you're at college, you can apply to 4 med schools. The special thing about France is, EVERYONE can go to a med school, whatever his grades ! Because the selection occurs during the first year, you'll understand.
So, at college I had good grades but I was not the best (this part is a really long story, I'll tell you all about it later) and decided to apply for med schools because my dream has always been to become a surgeon. When you apply, that's a computer who will decide in which school you'll go, according to your 4 choices. This is this way for equality -that's what they say..- then, each med school could be heterogenous enough.
The computer's choice is based on your mention at the baccalaureate. Here are the different mentions you can get :
- No mention : grade between 10/20 and 12/20
- Mention "assez bien" : 12-14/20
- Mention "bien" : 14-16/20
- Mention "très bien" : 16-20/20

The purpose of the computer system is to have at the end 25% of each students in each med school. Everyone is following it's okay ? Well. I was taken in my first choice, who was also the best med school of whole France (according to the concours of the 6th year, that's an other story, to be continued !) And once you're taken, the nightmare begins !
I will now talk about my school, the numbers I'll give etc are according to my school *it's everywhere else kinda the same thing tho*

About the med school.
The first year is called PACES or Première Année Commune aux Études de Santé (first common year of health studies) or P1. A first year student is also called a P1, so if you hear me sometimes say something like "the other P1" I would be talking about the 1st year students.
The particular thing here is -yes, a lot of things are particular with France actually !- that we have to pass a "concours" I don't know how to translate it in english, but it means at the exam your grades have to be better that everyone else's grades, you can fail with good grades.
Also, this concours is not only for those who wanna do med studies ! It's for all the people who wanna become : doctors in medicine, dentist, pharmacist, physiotherapist, midwifery. We are 2500 students. There are 331 places in medicine, 115 places in pharma, 36 in dentistery, 30 for midwifery, 28 for physio. Yeah. 540 places, 2500 students. Let's fight.

You know about all this stuff when you apply, you just don't realize. You don't realize it's not as easy as it sounds ... Why limited places ? Because as you might already know, our Social Security system has a huge whole, and if there is too much doctors, there is too much drugs, and too much money who goes. The thing is, we are in need of doctors in France, we don't have enough ... Cherchez l'erreur ! (= search for the mistake, french expression, does it make sense in english ?)

About courses.
The year works like that. 2500 students, 9 months, 2 semesters, 2 examinations (11 different tests) and .. 540 winners.
We learn subjects by "UE -> Unité d'Enseignement" it's like a module, each module will have is own test, and each module is about a few differents subjects. For the first semester, who start around the 10th september, there are 4 UE :
- UE1 : general chemistery, organic chemistry, biochemistery
- UE2 : cell biology, reproductive biology, histology, embryology
- UE3.1 : physics, biophysics
- UE5 : anatomy
The examination takes place around the 15th december. You need to know that all theses subjects are ALL DONE in 3 months, and there are the equivalence of : 2 years in a biology course, 3 years in a physics course + all the anatomy stuff. I'm not joking or exagerating. This is TRUE. Unfortunaltely. And that's all about the first semester for now, this is not the end haha !

In this semester, it's like doing one year of psychology. For the rest I don't even know ;P Well ! The S2 starts around the 5th january and ends up around the 5th may.
The first examination ends up to a rating , from 1 to 2500. This rating is not definitive tho, and the S2 is here to : helps you keep your place, helps you gain places in the rating. Obviously, when you're to far from the 331 , you have no chance and you retake the year. The thing is, you can only do the year twice. And if you are after the 1500th, you can't retake at all. Yeah, awful I know. I'll tell you about it later !

When you have so much to learn, you wish a day could me more than 24h (I really made that wish actually haha) , and you start having bad habits like sleeping only 6h a night (just, NEVER do it haha I can certify it's not good ) ; eating too fast (in 30min.. Don't do it as well !) and other weird stuff like that.

The worse part is the culpability you feel, you're always like "if you take a too long shower, you'll lost places at the rating" I SWEAR to you, we have thoughts like that. We definitely turn insane lol.

Now, you know all about med studies in France. Officially. That's what it is supposed to be, and it is the way it is, BUT. But med students are more than just numbers, and a lot of people can't see that.
I wanna tell you about it, about our feelings, because we are not numbers. Right now I'm trying to convince myself, but that's hard' , because whatever happens, when you put a foot inside a med school, you become a number. You fight for a rating, you live for it, you dream about it, you eat- and sometimes don't even eat- for it, you want to be a part of the 331 , you wanna be a number. You want to. That's when you become a number you did not wanted to be, that you realize that you were not supposed to be a number at all.
That you were not just the 529th, that you were still a human. You want to believe it, you try, but it takes time. Because it's too late, you are a number for everyone else.

Thanks for reading guys I hope you find it interesting, feel free to ask anything if I was not clear enough or something.

The next time : I will tell you about a typical med student day, how the courses goes on, the houuuuurs of hard working, and I'll tell you a bit about my grades before the med school, and at the med school, and the thing about me being a genius kid (that's an interesting fact you know, because when you have been the number one your whole life, you don't even imagine that you can fail. To be continued !)

(Original post by Hydeman)
I've wondered this for some time now: why 'unicorn?'

Long story unicorns are a symbol for me :3 it's related to my med school experience

I met a friend there, I talked to her first because in the amphi she seemed so tired etc.. I just motivated her a bit ans said "we are humans after all"
She said something like "I'm sorry ? I'm a unicorn" haha that's how we became friends :P and after that when we needed to cheer up the other we were saying to the other "it's time to do your unicorn" (-> it's time do believe the impossible)
Weird story I know

(Original post by FrenchUnicorn)
Long story unicorns are a symbol for me :3 it's related to my med school experience

I met a friend there, I talked to her first because in the amphi she seemed so tired etc.. I just motivated her a bit ans said "we are humans after all"
She said something like "I'm sorry ? I'm a unicorn" haha that's how we became friends :P and after that when we needed to cheer up the other we were saying to the other "it's time to do your unicorn" (-> it's time do believe the impossible)
Weird story I know

(Original post by Metrododo)
Also sat the French Baccalaureate with a few friends going into medicine in France, but also Econ and Engineering prépas and can confirm that the French "concours" system is just so... outdated - it works fine for the absolute geniuses, but I am sure we are missing out on a lot of talent that way. The English University system is just so much better, where even if the grades are sometimes curved you are not literally competing against everyone else as directly

I dropped out twice in the French system, but got a PhD offer from Oxford. It tells everything.

It's not only Medicine studies, the whole system is twisted, from BA to PhD, from professional courses to Literature, from Community Colleges to ENA.